The 2016-17 nominees for the Rudy Scholz Award have been selected - now college rugby fans, players and coaches can vote for the finalists!
The Scholz Award was created in the 2015-16 season by the Washington Athletic Club of Seattle in conjunction with Goff Rugby Report and with the support of USA Rugby. It is for the top Men's DI-Level College Rugby Player of the Year, and was named after Rudy Scholz, who played for Santa Clara, and the USA Gold Medal-winning rugby teams of the 1920 and 1924 Olympics. Scholz went fought in two world wars and was a successful attorney, while playing rugby into his '80s.
Last year's winner was Saint Mary's center/fullback Dylan Audsley. For more on the presentation and the awards dinner, see here.
Below are the nominees created by a panel of experts from around the college game. You can now vote on who you want to be a finalists here.
Chad Gough
| A multi-skilled hooker for the University of Utah |
Alec Barton
| A wide-ranging flanker and lock who has had a breakout season at Saint Mary's |
Bryce Campbell
| A powerful center for Indiana who has been capped multiple times for the Eagles this season. |
Russell Webb
| A brilliant flyhalf and effective goalkicker for Cal |
Chris Burian
| A hard-nosed, try-scoring No. 8 for Penn State |
Dominique Bailey
| Davenport's all-over skilled flanker |
Jake Lachina
| Playing wing for West Point, he is a constant try-scoring threat |
Kevin Schofield
| BYU's top try-scorer, the wing is a line-breaker of the highest order. |
Anthony Salaber
| A leader and superb all-around center for Cal |
Dylan Audsley
| Last year's winner, now shifted to fullback where he's an excellent attacker and goalkicker for Saint Mary's |
Calvin Whiting
| The outside center and main goalkicker for BYU |
Alex Maughan
| A powerful prop for for Life University, who has already been capped by the USA |
Mike Scarcella
| The central figure for Iona, a strong attacker and unparallelled defender at center |
Cody Melphy
| A shifty and speedy center for Life University |
Peter Malcolm
| An intelligent, athletic hooker for Wheeling Jesuit who earned his first Eagle caps this season |
VOTE FOR THE FINALISTS HERE
